Malaysian airline Essay

Purposes: In general, a brand’s reputation of Airlines Company might be very important in the eye of people (society). In fact, brand is consider as a promise to customers â€Å"setting up expectations† and with a strong brand it deliver on what it promises by the development of a strong reputation (Aaker 2009, p. 3). This approach seems particularly well suited to the reputation of Airlines Company, in which their brand’s reputation as image can be describe as a very important aspect. The goal of this study is to assess and analyses on the implication of accident to the reputation of Malaysia Airlines (MAS). In this project, I will explore how the reputation of MAS is affected, after the accident on 8 March 2014 (BBC 2014). In particular, I will focus on how MAS’s reputation and brand is significantly damaged by the disappearance of Flight MH370 and how to fix and rebuilding their reputation  and brand’s image after the accident happen. Therefore , the questions arise on how to convince and ensure the safety of MAS in their future operations. Also, the study will examine, test and attempt to measure the trust level of a customer’s perspective (the situational approach) towards MAS reputation after the tragedy occurred. Background: In this age, reputation and brand is become one of essential part of business environment. According to Brigham (2010) claims a business’s most valuable asset is its good name, brand and reputation, as a result brand reputational value is irreplaceable and company must protect it (Brigham 2010, p. 1). Hence, the accident on Flight MH370 is apparently affected the brand and reputation of MAS. As a result, I choose this topic, since it was the current issue in the eye of people around the world, due to the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 went missing less than an hour after take off. Also, the other reason I’m interested to select this issue, because I believe this accident will give a huge impact which can tarnish to the business reputation of MAS. Thus, this topic is important issue now, because it not just involves the company itself, but it related to international accident. Furthermore, I will conduct my study in a literature review, observe the general p eople discussion regarding MH370 Flight incident, and take a survey and interview randomly in Sydney about the mystery of disappearance of MH370. Scope: I will engage in literature review, in order to collect secondary data which is available on the news over a six-week period, from 1 April to 13 May 2014 for approximately 6 hour per week. I will typically observe the discussion of general people regarding the mystery of missing plane MH370 and stay around ten to fifteen minutes in order to observe other people perspective’s in the way they talk, feel and express about MAS reputation after the accident occurred. On some days I may come at other times of the day for survey. In this case, I will make a questionnaire regarding the people perspective’s generally of MAS reputation after the MH370 Flight incident. This questionnaire will be given to a random people whom I meet in Sydney (city area) and I will distribute the questionnaire also by email and other social networking sites. Moreover, I will schedule structured  interviews, but I will interview randomly to a general people in Sydney as informal question re garding their opinion and judgement about MAS reputation after the missing plane MH370, as needed to clarify and provide insight perspective of MAS reputation’s value into specific conversations. Theoretical framework: I will be guided most generally by the concept of branding in the International Marketing field, since branding is develop a company reputation in long term and it may be consider as one of the most important decisions made by marketing managers (Kohli, 1997, p. 206). The concept of branding leads to build a reputation in the mind of consumer as company image (identity) as seen from the outside and it about company brand is who they are, what is their strength, integrity and reputation, so its not simply on how company logo is displayed, but rather than that, it involves the emotional and intellectual response to target audiences (Stine 2008, p. 2). The corporate reputation can be consider as corporate image which is content identify, image, prestige, goodwill, esteem and standing (Wartick2002 as cited in Dolphin 2004, p. 81). Also, the corporate reputation is most influenced by the actions of an organization rather than a successful of PR campaign (Lewis 2001, p. 31). Consequently, based on research a good reputation allows a company to easily attract customers companies by the establishment of reputation for delivering high-quality products and service (Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 30). Research show that a firms’ reputation is consider to the success or failure of its brands, so it is very important for a firm to maintain or advance their reputation (Herbig and Milewicz 1993, p. 18). In addition, research show a good corporate reputation leads firms to enhance financial and market performance, as a result the corporate reputation appears to emerge as a critical dimension of benchmarking of a firm performance (Lee and Roh 2012, p. 649). Hence, it is very important to get a good reputation; company must be truthful, reliable and consistent about the offering product or service in order to get a customer loyalty (Melewar, Nguyen and Abimbola 2013, p. 1). Brands and brandings have such a profound impact on the society as whole a not just on people who buy or used their product and service, thus an ethical brand enhances the firm’s reputation, since such a good reputation  reinforces the brand in turn (Fan 2005, p. 341). However, any unethical behaviour of misconduct will severely damage or even destroy the total intangible asset of company, so in order to retain and advance company name, marketing managers must concern and implement 6Cs of corporate marketing which are corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation must be integrated under the umbrella title of corporate marketing (Fan 2005, p. 341 and Balmer & Greyser 2006, p. 730). According to Kotler and Keller (2006), brands are very important for both the company and the consumers, because brands indentify the source or maker of a product and service and allow consumers either individuals or organization to assi gn responsibility to a particular manufacture or distributor (Kotler and Keller 2006 as cited in Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 19). In this case, the brand reputation can be good or bad, strong or weak, its depend on how the company maintain their performance of reputation and it crystallizes how people feel about that reputation based on whatever information they have about the brand is regarded and respected (Ngwese and Zhang 2007, p. 31). I am exploring the meanings of brand reputation of MAS which is apparently affected after MH370 Flight incident. In this research, I hope to achieve the solution on how to fix and rebuilding the reputation of MAS Company and find the solution on how to get a trust back from customer itself. Also, find the way on how to maintain the customer loyalty after accident happen. Moreover, conclude the outcome on how far the correlations regarding brand reputation can affect the consumer’s perception. At the end, get the results regarding on the current level of customers’ confidence and trust in general people towards MAS reputation. Method: 1. Conduct a literature review on the implication of accident to the reputation of MAS. 2. Observe the discussion of general people about the mystery of missing plane MH370, for example: in collage or in a public place if somebody or friends talk about MAS Flight incident. Therefore, I will come closely and have a discussion with them in order to observe their opinion and judgement  regarding their own way on how they talk, feel and express their perspectives about MAS reputation. 3. Interview randomly to a general people in Sydney (city area) to clarify and provide insight into conversations. Thus, I will try to conduct these interviews shortly after conversation of interest to a general people who discusses regarding the accident to the reputation of MAS. The common strategy for the interviews is to begin with broad and general questions and follow up on the interviewee’s response in order to capture the person meanings and get their perception and to avoid imposing my meanings on the interviewee. I will use structured interviews in order to ensure that answer can be reliably aggregated (consistent), also it can reach a large sample, so a representative sample is possible can be used to make statements. While the interviews will not be formal but it structured, it more likely as informal and the kinds of questions I will ask include the following: a. What do you feel regarding the mystery of missing plane MH370? b. What do you think about the reputation of MAS after the accident occurred recently? c. What do you think that MAS should do in order to solve the tragedy of missing plane MH370? d. Do you still believe that MAS have a good reputation after the MH370 Flight incident? e. If you have a chance to travel going to overseas, do you still have trust to fly with MAS, despite the missing Flight MH370? f. Do you believe that MAS will improve their management of security and safety as their offered the flying service in the future? 4. Conduct a simple survey by a questionnaire paper regarding the people perspective’s generally of MAS reputation after the MH370 Flight incident. This questionnaire will be given to a random people whom I meet in Sydney (city area) and I will distribute the questionnaire also by email and other social networking sites. The reasons, I’m using questionnaires because it’s practical (I can do and conduct), realistic, sensible, handy, useful and convenient method. The outcome of conduct questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily interpret the result. 5. Write a research report that combines my understanding of own horizon and perception of the relevant theory and previous research with the outcomes of my empirical research. Simple Gantt chart: Limitations: Time constraints (limitation) of the semester require less time than may be ideal for research study. By collecting secondary data for only six hours a week for six-weeks, there are bound to be very difficult to evaluate the accuracy of secondary data, and the quality of internal secondary data may be exaggerated or biased, since I rely on secondary data from the news. Being an outsider may also limit what is revealed to me. The interview and survey it can be difficult to obtain reliable data on attitudes, opinion and values (unless validated questionnaires are used). Delimitations: I am choosing to not find the data from primary resources which is not available (not exist) and it’s not allowing the access of data. Thus, I’m used the secondary data from the news which is available, in order to look a broader of perspective regarding the understanding of general people in society towards the reputation of MAS. It is often cheaper and it saves time than doing primary research. Additionally, I will not use unstructured interviews because; a lot more time consuming in comparison to other research methods and it can be difficult to interview a large sample, affecting the data’s generalise and representativeness, also prone to digression and much of the data collected might be worthless. References Aaker, J 2009, ‘Building Innovative Brands’, Stanford Graduate School of Business, pp. 1-38, viewed 5April 2014, . Balmer, M.T.J and Greyser, S.A 2006, ‘Corporate Marketing: Integrating corporate identity, corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate reputation’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Iss: 7/8, pp.730 – 741, Emerald, viewed 2 April 2014 BBC 2014, ‘Missing Malaysia Airlines plane’, News Asia, viewed 1 April 2014, Brigham, A. F 2010, ‘Your Brand Reputational Value Is Irreplaceable Protect It!’, Forbes, pp. 1, viewed 5April 2014, . Dolphin, R. R 2004, ‘Corporate reputation – a value creating strategy’, Corporate Governance, Vol. 4 Iss: 3, pp.77 – 92, Emerald, viewed 4 April 2014 Fan, Y 2005, ‘Ethical branding and corporate reputation’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 10 Iss: 4, pp.341 – 350, Emerald, viewed 2 April 2014 Herbig, P and Milewicz, J 1993, ‘The relationship of reputation and credibility to brand success’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 10 Iss: 3, pp.18 – 24, Emerald, viewed 5April 2014 Kohli, C 1997, ‘Branding consumer goods: insights from theory and practice’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 14 Iss: 3, pp. 206 – 219, Emerald, viewed 5April 2014 Lee, J and Roh, J.J 2012, ‘Revisiting corporate reputation and firm performance link’, Benchmarking: an International Journal, Vol. 19 Iss: 4/5, pp.649 – 664, Emerald, viewed 3 April 2014 Lewis, S 2001, ‘Measuring corporate reputation’, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 6 Iss: 1, pp.31 – 35, Emerald, viewed 4 April 2014 Melewar, T.C, Nguyen, B and Abimbola, T 2013, ‘Corporate branding, identity, image and reputation (COBIIR)’, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 31 Iss: 5, pp. 1, Emerald, viewed 3 April 2014 Ngwese, E.R and Zhang 2007, ‘Brand Reputation in International Marketing’, Master of Science in International Marketing, pp. 1-65, University of Halmstad, viewed 4 April 2014, . Stine, G 2008, ‘The Nine Principles of Branding’, Polaris Inc. Branding Solutions, pp. 1-33, viewed 5April 2014, .

Emilio Jacinto’s Trading Cooperative

A1457 Cooperatives: Principles and practices in the 21st century Kimberly A. Zeuli and Robert Cropp ABOUT THE COVER IMAGE: The â€Å"twin pines† is a familiar symbol for cooperatives in the United States. The Cooperative League of the USA, which eventually became the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), adopted it as their logo in 1922. The pine tree is an ancient symbol of endurance and immortality. The two pines represent mutual cooperation—people helping people. COOPERATIVES: ii Chapter 1 An introduction to cooperatives 1 Chapter 2 Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world 5Chapter 3 Cooperative history, trends, and laws in the United States 59 Chapter 8 Procedures for organizing a cooperative 69 Chapter 9 A summary of cooperative benefits and limitations 77 Notes 81 Glossary 85 Cooperative resources IN 49 Chapter 7 Cooperative financial management PRACTICES 39 Chapter 6 Cooperative roles, responsibilities, and communication & 27 Chapte r 5 Alternative business models in the United States PRINCIPLES 15 Chapter 4 Cooperative classification Contents Publication notes ? 89 THE 21ST CENTURY i Publication notes This publication is the fourth and most extensive revision of the Marvin A.Schaars’ text, Cooperatives, Principles and Practices, University of Wisconsin Extension—Madison, Publication A1457, July 1980. What has come to be known simply as â€Å"the Schaars book,† was originally written in 1936 by Chris L. Christensen, Asher Hobson, Henry Bakken, R. K. Froker, and Marvin Schaars, all faculty in the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Wisconsin—Madison. Since its first publication, the Schaars book has served as a basic reference for cooperative members and leaders, cooperative instructors and development specialists, and students of cooperatives throughout the UnitedStates and world. It has been translated into several languages. Although the Schaars book has been out of print for some time, the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) continues to receive regular requests for copies. Its straightforward, basic information on the organization, structure, financing, and management of cooperatives is as needed and relevant today as ever. The revisions in this version, which reflect over two decades of learning about cooperative development as well as new cooperative laws and ways of doing business, will hopefully make it even more useful.Although we focus on cooperative businesses in the United States, and draw most of our references from the agricultural sector, most of the book’s content is pertinent to cooperatives anywhere, in any sector. Readers are encouraged to seek out other publications that deal more extensively with cooperative laws in their own states and countries, and provide more detailed information on consumer, service and worker-owned cooperatives and credit unions. ii Kimberly Zeuli and Robert Cropp, Assistant Professor and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin—Madison, re responsible for all of the editing and most of the revised text. The following individuals also contributed to various chapters: David Erickson, Director of Member Relations, Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives E. G. Nadeau, Director of Research, Planning and Development, Cooperative Development Services David Trechter, Professor, University of Wisconsin— River Falls Richard Vilstrup, Professor Emeritus, Department of Animal Science and Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin—Madison This revision would not have been possible without generous funding from The CooperativeFoundation, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER 1 ? An introduction to cooperatives According to the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA): a cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their com mon economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Cooperative leaders around the world recognize the ICA, a non-governmental organization with over 230 member organAlthough the word â€Å"cooperaizations from over 100 countries, as a leading tive† can be applied to many uthority on cooperative definition and values. 2 different types of group activities, in this publication The ICA definition recognizes the essential the term is used to reference element of cooperatives: membership is voluntary. Coercion is the antithesis of cooperation. Persons a formal business model, compelled to act contrary to their wishes are not which has relatively recent origins. The earliest coopera- truly cooperating. True cooperation with others arises from a belief in mutual help; it can’t be tive associations were created in Europe and North dictated. In authentic cooperatives, persons join The first signs ofAmerica during the 17th and voluntarily and have the freedom to quit the cooporganized hunting 18th centuries. These associ- erative at any time. 3 The forced collectives prevaactivity based around lent in the former Soviet Union, for example, were ations were precursors to communities are associated with not true cooperatives. cooperatives. The pioneers Homo erectus, of the Rochdale Society in Another widely accepted cooperative definition is modern human 19th-century England are ancestors who lived the one adopted by the United States Department between 500,000 and celebrated for launching the f Agriculture (USDA) in 1987: A cooperative is a 1. 5 million years ago modern cooperative user-owned, user-controlled business that distributes in Africa. movement. The unique conbenefits on the basis of use. This definition captures tribution of early cooperative organizers in what are generally considered the three primary England was codifying a guiding set of principles cooperative principles: user ownership, user and instigating the creation of new laws that control, and proportional distribution of benefits. helped foster cooperative business development. The â€Å"user-owner† principle implies that the peopleToday, cooperatives are found in nearly all countries. Chapters 2 and 3 trace the remarkable history who use the co-op (members) help finance the coof cooperative development internationally and in op and therefore, own the co-op. Members are responsible for providing at least some of the the United States. cooperative’s capital. The equity capital contribution of each member should be in equal proportion to that member’s use (patronage) of the coop. This shared financing creates joint ownership The cooperative model has been adapted to (part of the ICA cooperative definition). numerous and varied businesses.In 1942 Ivan G roups of individuals around the world and throughout time have worked together in pursuit of common goals. Examples of coop eration, or collective action, can be traced back to our prehistoric predecessors who recognized the advantages of hunting, gathering, and living in groups rather than on their own. What is a cooperative? Emelianoff, a respected cooperative scholar, remarked that â€Å"the diversity of cooperatives is kaleidoscopic and their variability is literally infinite. †1 As a consequence of this diversity, no universally accepted definition of a cooperative exists.Two definitions, however, are commonly used. PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN The â€Å"user-control† concept means that members of the co-op govern the business directly by voting on significant and long-term business decisions and indirectly through their representatives on the board of directors. Cooperative statutes and bylaws usually dictate that only active co-op members (those who use the co-op) can become voting directors, although non-members sometimes serve on boards in a non-voting, advisory THE 21ST CENTURY 1 cap acity. Advisory directors are becoming more common in large agricultural cooperatives in theUnited States, where complex financial and business operations require the expertise of financial and industry experts. Only co-op members can vote to elect their board of directors and on other cooperative actions. Voting rights are generally tied to membership status—usually one-member, one-vote—and not to the level of investment in or patronage of the cooperative. Cooperative law in a number of states in the United States and in other countries, however, also permits proportional voting. Instead of one vote per member, voting rights are based on the volume of business the member transacted he previous year with the cooperative. Generally, however, there is also a maximum number of votes any member may cast to prevent control by a minority of members. For example, a grain cooperative might permit one vote to be cast for each 1,000 bushels of grain marketed the year before, but any single member would be limited to a maximum of ten votes. Democratic control is maintained by tying voting rights to patronage. Equitable voting rights, or democratic control (as written in the ICA definition), are a hallmark of cooperatives. â€Å"Distribution of benefits on the basis of use,† escribes the principle of proportionality, another key foundation for cooperatives. Members should share the benefits, costs, and risks of doing business in equal proportion to their patronage. The proportional basis is fair, easily explained (transparent), and entirely feasible from an operational standpoint. To do otherwise distorts the individual contributions of members and diminishes their incentives to join and patronize the cooperative. 2 Co-op benefits may include better prices for goods and services, improved services, and dependable sources of inputs and markets for outputs. Most ooperatives also realize annual net profits, all or part of which are returned to members in proportion to their patronage (thus, they are aptly called patronage refunds). Cooperatives can also return a portion of their profits as dividends on investment. In the United States, however, federal and most state statutes set an 8 percent maximum on annual dividend payments. The purpose of these limits is to assure that the benefits of a cooperative accrue to those who use it most rather than to those who may have the most invested; the importance of capital is subordinated. Today, some co-op leaders and scholars consider his dividend restriction arbitrary and harmful to cooperatives. From their perspective, the 8 percent maximum makes investing in cooperatives less attractive than investing in other forms of business. It makes cooperatives less competitive as well, especially in the agricultural processing sector, which requires a lot of capital for start-up and growth. An overview of the federal laws that govern cooperatives in the United States is included in chapter 3. Why cooperate? People who organize and belong to cooperatives do so for a variety of economic, social, and even political reasons.Cooperating with others has often proven to be a satisfactory way of achieving one’s own objectives while at the same time assisting others in achieving theirs. Farmers create farm supply and marketing cooperatives to help them maximize their net profits. This requires both effective marketing of their products for better prices as well as keeping input costs as low as possible. The farmers recognize that they are usually more efficient and knowledgeable as producers than as marketers or purchasers. By selling and buying in larger volumes they can also usually achieve better prices. COOPERATIVES: CHAPTEREmployees organize bargaining associations and labor unions to negotiate collectively with management and owners. In some cases, employees form worker-owned cooperatives. As the name suggests, a worker-owned cooperative is owned and controlled by its em ployees. 4 Employees establish bargaining units and cooperatives in the hopes of increasing their wages and fringe benefits, improving their general working conditions, and ensuring job security. Cooperatives do not, as is sometimes assumed, contradict the goals of capitalism. If that were the case, cooperatives would not play such an important role in the American economy.About 48,000 cooperatives, operating in nearly every business sector imaginable, serve 120 million members, or roughly 4 out of 10 Americans. 5 The top 100 cooperatives in the United States, ranked by revenue, individually generated at least $346 million in revenue during 2002 and in the aggregate, $119 billion. 6 They represent agriculture, finance, grocery, hardware, healthcare, recreation, and energy industries (figure 1. 1). An introduction to cooperatives Consumer cooperatives are established to sell the products a group of consumers want but cannot find elsewhere at affordable prices. The consumer embers are primarily interested in improving their purchasing power—the quantity of goods and services they can buy with their income. They naturally wish to get as much as possible for their money in terms of quantity and quality. As owners, the members have a say in what products their stores carry. 1 ? Cooperatives are especially important to agriculture. In 2002, 3,140 agricultural cooperatives provided roughly 3. 1 million farmers (many farmers are members of more than one cooperative) with agricultural marketing, farm supplies, and other farm-related services. They captured 28 percent of the market share. Figure 1. 1. Top 100 revenue generating cooperatives in the U. S. by sector, 2002 PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN THE 21ST CENTURY 3 In terms of non-agricultural cooperatives, 84 million Americans are members of 9,569 credit unions, 865 electric co-ops serve 37 million people in 47 states, over 1. 5 million families live in housing cooperatives, and over 3 million people are members o f 5,000 food cooperatives. 8 The involvement of so many people in cooperatives in such a highly competitive economy reflects the general satisfaction of members toward their companies and the apparent efficiency and solid inancial performance of these businesses. Chapter 4 provides a more comprehensive discussion of the various types of cooperatives and the extent of their economic success in the United States. In short, cooperatives are organized to serve member needs and are focused on generating member benefits rather than returns to investors. This member-driven orientation makes them fundamentally different from other corporations. Additional cooperative structural characteristics and guiding principles further distinguish them from other business models. In most countries, the cooperative model represents only one of several ifferent ways a business can choose to legally organize. Chapter 5 presents a comparison of the six major alternative business models in the United States . Cooperative management and development To prosper, cooperatives must be well organized, well financed, well managed, and governed well by a committed membership. They must be progressive, adapting to changing business climates, and responsive to their members’ changing needs. Members, the board of directors, and management each have responsibilities within the cooperative. Strong, viable cooperatives require all three groups to do their share.Chapter 6 describes each group’s unique and important role. 4 Although capital, employees, business volume, and good management practices are all very important for successful operations, a co-op’s members are its most important asset. Cooperative success also hinges on effective member education and communication. Indeed, providing education, training, and information to members is one of the seven cooperative principles adopted by the ICA. The unique education needs of cooperatives and the essential elements for a succe ssful education and communication program are also discussed in chapter 6.Cooperative financing is also critical and in today’s complex cooperative organizations it can be quite complicated. Adequate capital is one of the fundamental principles of sound business operation and at the same time one of the biggest challenges facing cooperatives today. Financing options must be consistent with principles of cooperation as well as with federal and state laws. Chapter 7 lays out the main concepts behind cooperative financing, including alternative sources of capital and equity redemption plans. As with other business forms, cooperatives should be established only to meet a well-defined need in he market. Before cooperatives are created, advance research should be done by a steering committee to ensure sufficient support by other potential members in the community. Chapter 8 discusses in greater detail the procedure for organizing cooperatives. A good feasibility study, strong membe rship drives, and a comprehensive business plan are essential ingredients. A final analysis of the cooperative model’s benefits and limitations, to members and the broader community, is presented in chapter 9. COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER Revolutionary roots in England The first cooperative businesses created in Europe rose during periods of great social upheaval and distress caused by dramatic shifts in agricultural and industrial production practices. Prior to the Industrial Revolution (about 1750-1850), most families in England and other parts of Europe were largely self-sufficient, creating enough food and goods for their subsistence and small amounts for trading. The Industrial Revolution introduced the factory system of production and was marked by a rapid succession of remarkable inventions that accelerated the industrialization of business. Examples of inventions during this period include smelting iron with coal instead of charcoal, the otton gin and power loom, and the ste am engine. The writings of Adam Smith at the time, especially his advocacy of the laissez faire principle (no government intervention in the economy), further spurred the revolution. The industrial system gradually replaced cottage industries and home-based production. Workers were required to move into cities to find work. Away from land, their families were increasingly integrated into a market economy; instead of pro- PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN ducing most of their household requirements, especially food, they had no other choice but to purchase them. Advances in production were not, nfortunately, accompanied by fair labor standards. Workers were typically paid very low wages and were subjected to harsh working conditions. 10 People remaining in rural areas were not much better off. An agricultural revolution was already well underway in the 18th century. The introduction of new cultivation methods and crop varieties supported a dramatic change in land tenure patterns. Scattered, small plots of farmland were aggregated into large, enclosed estates, primarily for the purpose of grazing sheep and other live- The historical development of cooperative businesses cannot be disconnected from the social and conomic forces that shaped them. Co-ops then, as now, were created in times and places of economic stress and social upheaval. 9 stock. Between 1760 and 1843, nearly seven million acres of agricultural land in England were enclosed in estates. As a result, large numbers of small farmers were driven from their land into neighboring towns and villages with few remaining jobs. A movement towards greater freedom of expression was another hallmark of this revolutionary period. The citizens of England began to publicly dissent with government policies, taking issue with the status quo and demanding more personal ights. Therefore, the widespread poverty, unemployment, and general social deterioration that were left in the wake of the industrial and agricultural revolut ions were met with a public outcry to the government for improved working and living conditions. THE 21ST CENTURY Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world T he historical development of cooperative businesses cannot be disconnected from the social and economic forces that shaped them. Co-ops then, as now, were created in times and places of economic stress and social upheaval. 9 Ancient records and archeological discoveries oint to the existence of cooperative organizations created by early civilizations in diverse parts of the world (China, Greece, Egypt, etc. ). But it is the founders of the Rochdale Society in 19th century England who are celebrated for launching the modern cooperative movement. The Rochdale pioneers, and the early European cooperative thinkers and organizers who laid the foundation for their success, are responsible for codifying a guiding set of principles that helped guide the development of cooperatives across the world. 2 ? 5 Early coopera tive societies Robert Owen and In the absence of public assistance, the people ofCharles Fourier— Europe established various types of self-help organizations. Mutual fire insurance companies Cooperative visionaries existed in London and Paris as early as 1530, although the first highly successful and wellknown example was organized in England in 1696, the Amicable Contributionship. 11 The people of England also created Mutual Aid Societies (they eventually became known as Friendly Societies) that offered financial payments and assistance to members in times of sickness, unemployment, or death. 12 By the mid-18th century many well-established societies were already in operation.They were legalized with the passing of the first Friendly Society Act (also called the Rose Act) in 1793. A number of bills were introduced in the 19th century to encourage Friendly Societies since they lessened the public burden. 13 Workers organized labor unions to bargain with employers for more fav orable working conditions and to lobby the government for improved labor legislation. Cooperative or quasi-cooperative industrial businesses were in operation in England by 1760. Most were consumer-controlled organizations focused on flour milling and baking industries. Cooperative orn mills for grinding flour appeared in a number of cities shortly after the turn of the 19th century to cut the cost of flour and prevent tampering by greedy millers. Purchasing cooperatives already existed in most Western European countries by the 18th century. The Weaver’s Society in Fenwick, Scotland (often referred to as â€Å"penny capitalists†) began to purchase supplies as a group in 1769. 14 The precursors to mutuals and unions were guilds, the associations of merchants, artisans, and craftsmen that date back to Medieval times. Guilds had binding rules for production and business practices.Although guilds were created partially in an attempt to establish local trade monopolies, the y incorporated socialist practices: member control, equitable treatment of all members, and financial support of members who were ill or faced family crises. 6 â€Å"Often men wish to escape the realities of life, and when they do, they dream of Utopias. † 15 The first cooperative movement, that is, the establishment of a coherent argument for the cooperative form of organization, gained momentum in the early 19th century with the writings and advocacy efforts of Robert Robert Owen (1771- Owen and William King in 858):â€Å"The Father England and Charles Fourier in of Cooperation. † France. Robert Owen and Charles Fourier were both well-known Utopian Socialists; not only did they envision ideal societies, they tried to create them in Europe and the United States. 16 Robert Owen (1771-1858) was a prominent industrialist who began to advocate the establishment of a new type of community to alleviate the poverty and suffering caused by the Industrial Revolution. Charles F ourier (1772-1837) was a bourgeois, famous French social philosopher whose plans for self-reliant communities were motivated by the French Revolution and his view hat the working class was being dehumanized and repressed. They both envisioned rural villages composed of farms and small-scale industry, all operated cooperatively by the citizens who would also live together communally. Owen originally conceived of these communities as a solution for unemployment, but later believed (like Fourier) that they were a better alternative to private capitalism and competition, providing self-employment opportunities and other conditions that would provide universal happiness. Fourier called his planned communal cities â€Å"phalanxes. † COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER Fourier never found philanthropists willing to fund he creation of a phalanx. After his death, several were attempted in France and more than thirty organized in the United States. 18 The most notable in the United States were Broo k Farm, near Cambridge, Massachusetts (1842-1846), and one in Fond du Lac County (now the city of Ripon), Wisconsin (1845-1850). The phalanxes suffered from a conflict between treating everyone equally and rewarding those who provided more capital and labor. The phalanx model, however, influenced the successful kibbutzim in Israel (discussed later). Owen was a visionary idealist, not a realistic cooperative developer.He was not at all interested, therefore, in helping the early consumer cooperatives in England:â€Å"Joint stock retailing is not the Social System which we contemplate†¦and will not form any part of the arrangements in the New Moral World. †19 In 1839 he did not even bother to respond to an urgent request by Charles Howarth to visit Rochdale, England to discuss organizational plans for a new retail cooperative. Owen’s attack upon individualism, the family, competition, private property, the market economy, and organized religion, alienated many peopl e from cooperation and provoked condemnation of cooperatives from various religious groups.Even so, Owen is often called the â€Å"father of cooperation. † Despite his failures, Owen continued preaching that cooperative production and living were the best medicines for the ills of society. His advocacy stimulated the creation of cooperative societies, labor exchanges (where handicrafts were traded based on the amount of labor involved in their making), and trade unions. Although most of the organizations he started lasted only a short time, PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN they provided the groundwork for another generation of cooperative development in Europe and North America. William King—A cooperative developer and pragmatist Dr. William King (1786-1865), another social reformer in England, was in many respects more responsible than Robert Owen for spreading the cooperative idea and for the actual organization of cooperatives. Although he accepted much of Owen’s so cial philosophy, he disagreed on how to reach those goals. King was more realistic about cooperatives, advocating and inspiring the development of consumer cooperatives across England. As a physician, King became interested in improving the welfare of the working people of Brighton, England. He was involved in organizing numerous ocial and educational institutions, including an infants’ school, a mechanics’ institute, and a library. Between 1828 and 1830, King published (at his own expense) a small magazine called â€Å"The Cooperator† that was widely distributed throughout England. Its 28 issues were a source of inspiration, information, and instruction on cooperation in theory as well as in practice. The magazine advocated a more realistic type of cooperation within reach of the working class. King believed that cooperatives should start small with the original capital supplied by members, a significant deviation from Owen and Fourier’s arge-scale opera tions funded by wealthy investors. King did not necessarily object to Owen’s self-sustaining cooperative communities, as long as they were funded with the members’ own capital and were restricted to Christians. King was a religious fundamentalist who believed that biblical scripture should guide the ethics and operations of cooperatives. He also taught that cooperatives should not pay patronage refunds, but instead reinvest all net profits to increase the scope of their activities and to employ as many members as possible. King also proposed the following guidelines for consumer cooperatives: THE 1ST CENTURY Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world Owen and Fourier were not abstract thinkers; they laid out very specific details for their communities. For instance, they believed that the communities should contain 1,000-1,800 people living on a relatively small tract of land. Fourier was more explicit: the area should be three square miles. 17 Wealthy supporters of Owen’s ideas were willing to finance the creation of such communities. Four were eventually created: New Harmony, Indiana (USA); Orbiston, Scotland; Ralahine, Ireland; and Queenswood, England. All ultimately failed. 2 ? 7 1) members should pay cash for all merchandise purchased at the cooperative; (2) the co-op should adopt democratic principles of governance; and (3) it should publicize the cooperative movement. In addition to the advocacy of Owen and King, the cooperative movement in England was supported by a number of short-lived cooperative journals, which were circulated between 1825 and 1830. Cooperative congresses also advocated and promoted cooperation; the first took place in 1830 in Manchester, the second in 1831 in Birmingham, and the third in 1832 in London. Owen’s influence and rhetoric were exhibited in these and later congresses.For instance, the Third Congress stated that â€Å"the grand ultimate object of all cooperative societies is c ommunity on land. † What began with a few cooperative societies in 1826 quickly grew to about 300 consumer cooperatives by 1830, many patterned after King’s Brighton Cooperative Trading Association. King’s ideas may have also influenced early American cooperatives. A treasurer of a cooperative in Brighton, England, William Bryan, helped organize a consumer cooperative in New York City in 1830. King was compelled to discontinue his active role in the cooperative movement in the late 1830s for wo reasons: his medical practice was suffering and poor management and internal discontent plagued individual co-op stores. By 1840, the cooperative movement in England was basically at a standstill and King’s ideas were forgotten, ignored in the cooperative literature for several decades. The Rochdale Pioneers In the first wave of consumer cooperatives, a shortlived society was created in Rochdale, England in 1833. James Smithies, one of the original organizers, was i nspired by King’s cooperative magazine and shared it with his co-founders. Their ultimate cooperative goals, however, echoed Owen’s teachings.Although their first co-op effort failed after only two years, a core group of 28 continued to work actively for social reform and eventually created the prototype cooperative model for a modest shop on Toad Lane in 1844. The so-called Rochdale Pioneers were ambitious and had lofty goals for their co-op: (1) to sell provisions at the store; (2) to purchase homes for their members; (3) to manufacture goods their members needed; and (4) to provide employment for their members who were either out of work or poorly paid. In sum, they wanted to â€Å"establish a self-supporting home colony of united interests† nd to â€Å"arrange the powers of production, distribution, education, and government† in the interests of its members. In addition, they hoped to open a â€Å"temperance hotel† in one of the cooperative hou ses to promote sobriety. The foundation for the Rochdale cooperative was built upon the intelligent combination of various ideas that had been tried by previous cooperatives. The Pioneers learned from the co-op failures of the past. For example, the business practices they adopted for their small store, later called the Rochdale Principles (sidebar), were novel primarily in their combination; many had been borrowed rom other cooperatives. The original Rochdale Cooperative shop on Toad Lane. It is now preserved as a museum. 8 COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER The Industrial and Provident Societies Act, authorized in England in 1852, was a major development in the cooperative movement. Prior to the enactment of this law, the Friendly Societies Acts of 1834 and 1846 regulated the registration of cooperatives, even though these acts were designed for mutual-aid groups and not for businesses engaged in trade. Therefore, the consumer cooperatives did not have the proper legal protection essential for their business operations.The acts further prevented them from selling to people other than their members. 1. Voting is by members on a democratic (one-member, one-vote) basis. 2. Membership is open. 3. Equity is provided by members. 4. Equity ownership share of individual members is limited. 5. Net income is distributed to members as patronage refunds on a cost basis. 6. Dividends on equity capital are limited. 7. Exchange of goods and services at market prices. 8. Duty to educate. 9. Cash trading only. 10. No unusual risk assumption. 11. Political and religious neutrality. 12. Equality in membership (no discrimination y gender). Adapted from David Barton,â€Å"Principles,† in David Cobia (ed. ), Cooperatives in Agriculture. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989. Some of the Rochdale Principles, such as democratic control (one-member, one-vote) and limited dividends on equity capital, are still followed by most cooperatives around the world. Other principles, such as ca sh trading, are clearly outdated in most countries where credit cards and (in agricultural co-ops) seasonal loans are the norm. As a set of guiding principles, they are not necessarily appropriate for all types of cooperatives in all locations.They are after all a product of a historical period and economy and were meant to govern a small retail store (see chapter 4 for further discussion of cooperative principles). The phenomenal success of the Rochdale cooperative, which is still in operation today, was just the boost that the cooperative movement in England needed. Rochdale became the cooperative beacon for others to follow. It provided the organizational pattern that became the prototype for other cooperatives and spurred on the cooperative movement in Europe and North America. PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN The Industrial and Provident Societies Act rovided both important legal protections for the cooperatives while also imposing some operating restrictions. It protected the propert y of the societies, gave binding legal authority for their rules, safeguarded the savings of their investors, allowed them to sell to non-members, and provided legal status so that an association could sue fraudulent officials. It allowed cooperatives to pay patronage refunds on purchases but limited dividends on shares of stock to five percent. Although members still faced unlimited liability for cooperative debts, share limits of ? 100 per member were enforced.The passage of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act of 1862 loosened some of the restrictions and provided limited liability for members, meaning they would be liable only for co-op debts less than or equal to the value of their stock. Share limits were increased to ? 200 per member and cooperatives were permitted to invest in other cooperatives. As a result of these changes, the organization of the North of England Co-operative Society became possible. Established in 1863 to create cost savings for members by purchasi ng a variety of goods in bulk, today the Co-operative Group comprises a family of businesses employed n a wide range of activities (food, finance, farms, funerals, etc. ). It is a unique consumer-owned business that is the largest of its kind in the world. THE 21ST CENTURY Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world The first cooperative law Rochdale cooperative principles 2 ? 9 The beginnings of cooperative credit During the 1840s, later called â€Å"the Hungry Forties,† famine and extreme hardship spread throughout Europe. A blight ruined potato crops in many European countries, although Ireland was the most severely hit, during 1845-47. The shortage of potatoes drove up other food prices.Low fishing yields further exacerbated the food shortage, which caused millions of deaths and led to severe economic depression, high unemployment, and political unrest in the region. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848. During this same year, F. W. Raiffeisen, a mayor of a group of villages in Northern Germany, created a cooperative society to alleviate some of the suffering in his community. The cooperative gave potatoes and bread to the poor. He soon realized, however, that charity alone could not solve the problems of poor farmers; they needed to become self-sufficient and earn more money. Raiffeisen hen started to organize loan societies, which embraced various cooperative features. Although Raiffeisen continued to advocate self-help, his first societies were mainly efforts to transfer money from the rich to the poor. In 1862, he helped the rural farmers of the little town of Anhausen organize a truly cooperative loan society. Early agricultural marketing and farm supply cooperatives in Europe Denmark is generally regarded as the most outstanding example of early and successful cooperative farm marketing and farm supply organizations. 20 The first cooperative creamery in Denmark was established in 1875 at Kaslunde. The early ooperative creameries incorporated some significant improvements in the butter-making process, including a standardized grading system. The high quality butter was marketed under a government brand to reflect their supervision of the grading. The first cooperative creameries were very successful. News of their success and popularity spread to other rural areas of Denmark; many others were soon organized throughout the country. These developments took place without government assistance or subsidies. The early and striking success of cooperatives in Denmark can be primarily attributed to the role of the Folk High School.An institution unique to the country, this school educated young adults in rural areas. The schools were inspired by the philosopher and clergyman, Bishop Nikolai (N. S. F. ) Grundtvig (1783-1873), and popularized by Kristen Meanwhile, Herman Schulze had created a somewhat similar credit institution among artisans Kold, an educator. Grundtvig established the first in Eilenburg i n 1850. He further refined this model Folk High School in 1844; the one created by Kold in 1851, however, was more successful and widely to fit the credit needs of artisans and other smallscale industries and developed other credit organi- replicated.The mission of the schools was to enlighten Danish citizens (beyond what they were zations. Raiffeisen may have been familiar with learning in primary schools) so they could particithese organizations and used them to inform his pate in the governance of the kingdom. They were own co-op development efforts. Both the not meant to be vocational or cooperative training Raiffeisen and Schulze cooperative bank models schools but rather designed to expose students to rapidly spread across Europe. Features of both new ideas and experiences. Today, we would call models were used to form credit unions in North them liberal arts schools.Numerous such schools America. Incidentally, the Credit Union National still thrive in Denmark. Although suppor ted finanAssociation’s headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin was called â€Å"Raiffeisen House† for a number of years. cially by the state, they are free to set their own curricula and are required to be nonvocational and without examinations. 10 COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER Cooperatives around the world The cooperative movement gradually spread around the world in the 19th century (table 2. 1). Another notable cooperative advocate is Sir Horace Plunkett (1854-1932), an Irishman (who spent 10 years as a cattle rancher in the UnitedStates in the 1800s) famous for advocating the benefits of agricultural cooperatives in Ireland and beyond. 21 He was instrumental in creating an international cooperative movement and promoting the cooperative principle of political neutrality. The Irish Cooperative Organization Society (formerly the Irish Agricultural Organization Society), originally founded by Plunkett in 1894, is located in The Plunkett House in Dublin. Today, cooperative business es are found in nearly all countries, from the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and South America to the industrial countries of Europe and North America.Northern Europe, where the cooperative movement took hold very early, still contains a strong cooperative presence, especially in agriculture. Many of the cooperatives in these countries have long histories and are extremely successful. However, as is the case in the United States (see chapter 3), economic pressures have been met with cooperative mergers and consolidations. As a result, cooperative numbers in these countries appear quite low (tables 2. 2 and 2. 3). Cooperative numbers in India, even on a per capita basis, are by comparison astounding. In the case of India and other countries with relatively high ooperative numbers, this situation typically reflects the existence of numerous, local cooperatives. More cooperatives do not imply necessarily that the cooperative sector as a whole is stronger or more competitive, howe ver. The spread of the cooperative business model from 18th century England to such diverse countries as India, Korea and Uganda, points to the universal adaptability and diversity of the cooperative model. Cooperative businesses are found in nearly all countries, from the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and South America to the industrial countries of Europe and North America. PRINCIPLES PRACTICES IN THE 21ST CENTURY Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world Folk High Schools created trained, rural leadership. They also established bonds of trust among those who came to live and study at the schools. The students developed a willingness to think together, work together, and play together—in short, to cooperate. Although not an intended outcome, the spirit of cooperation produced in these schools has been, without doubt, an important factor in the growth of Denmark’s cooperative movement. 2 ? 11 Table 2. 1. Historical cooperative statistics for se lected countries CountryFirst co-op First co-op law Membership (% of population) Albania 1946 NA NA Austria 1794 1873 47. 4 Belgium 1848 1873 35. 4 Czech Republic 1852 1873 13. 4 Denmark 1851 NA 34. 2 Finland 1870 1901 45. 8 France 1750 1887 30. 1 Germany 1845 1867 27. 9 Greece 1780 1914 9. 9 Iceland 1844 1937 20. 0 Ireland 1859 1893 59. 5 Italy 1806 1886 13. 3 Lithuania 1869 1917 6. 8 Luxembourg 1808 1884 4. 8 Netherlands 1860 1855 41. 1 Norway 1851 1935 36. 4 Poland 1816 1920 NA Portugal 1871 1867 21. 9 Romania 1852 1903 28. 5 Russia 1825 1907 9. 5 Spain 1838 1885 11. 1 Sweden 1850 1895 53. 7 Switzerland 1816 1881 50. 1 Turkey 1863 867 12. 9 United Kingdom 1750 1852 16. 6 United States 1752 1865 56. 7 Yugoslavia 1870 1925 6. 5 NA = not available Source: Adapted from Shaffer, J. (1999). Historical dictionary of the cooperative movement. London: Scarecrow Press, Inc. (pp. 437-39). 12 COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER Region Number of countries Organizations Individual members Societies Africa 1 2 19 27,214 9,561,443 Americas 18 61 43,945 182,486,437 Asia 28 64 480,648 414,383,079 Europe 35 88 197,293 118,473,862 Total 93 232 749,100 724,904,821 Source: International Co-operative Alliance, www. coop. org/statistics. html (July 1,1998). Table 2. 3.Agriculture cooperative statistics from select countries Number of co-ops Country Membership (millions) Brazil 4,744 3. 74 Canada 7,880 14. 52 Columbia 1,936 4. 82 Denmark 1,446 1. 39 Egypt 6,992 4. 28 46 1. 07 23,573 17. 49 Finland France Germany 9,112 21. 64 India 446,784 182. 92 Israel 256 0. 03 Japan 3,860 42. 84 NA 0. 63 Morocco 9,635 0. 68 Norway 4,259 1. 59 Repub. Korea 7,669 17. 07 15,106 Historical development of cooperatives throughout the world Table 2. 2. Cooperatives and membership by international region 2 ? 4. 78 Mexico Sweden Switzerland Uganda United Kingdom United States Zambia 16 1. 51 3,131 0. 4 42 9. 04 27,076 156. 19 2,174 0. 57 Source: International Co-operative Alliance, www. coop. org/statistics. html (Apri l 26, 2002). PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN THE 21ST CENTURY 13 14 COOPERATIVES: CHAPTER The driving forces behind cooperative development in the United States include the following five interrelated dynamics: 1. Market failure (monopoly power, excess supply, missing markets, etc. ). 2. Economic crises (depressions and recessions). 3. New technology. 4. Farm organizations and cooperative advocates. 5. Favorable public policy (presidential interest, legislative initiatives at both state and federal evels, and judicial interpretation). The relative importance of these forces at different periods will become apparent as we trace the path of cooperative development. Since some of the most significant contributions Americans have made to the cooperative model and movement have been in the agricultural sector, farm cooperatives will dominate this discussion. PRINCIPLES & PRACTICES IN The first American cooperatives The first recognized cooperative business in the United States (a mutual insura nce company) was founded in 1752, almost a quarter-century before the birth of the country (America achieved independence in 1776).Benjamin Franklin, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, worked with other members of fire fighting associations to create the first successful fire insurance company in the colonies: The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. 24 Franklin had already formed the Union Fire Company in 1736, which became the model for volunteer fire fighting companies. Franklin had witnessed the success and importance of mutual societies when he was living in England. The Philadelphia Contributionship was based on a similar London association created in 1696. 25 Although European models and European immigrant cultures remained influential, it was in agriculture that co-ops began to take root in new and distinctive North American forms. † 26 Cooperative history, trends, Cooperative history, trends, and laws in the United States and laws in the United States C ooperatives are neither indigenous to the United States, nor are they an American invention. As Fairbairn reminds us,â€Å"The idea of the co-op was both imported by the colonists from Europe and also independently developed and adapted by settlers of European origin under North American conditions. †22 Pilgrims coming to he new world on the Mayflower in 1620 signed the Mayflower Compact, which described the operations of an organization, or constitution, with cooperative characteristics. Once they arrived, the early settlers worked together collectively to clear the land, build homes and communities, start farming, and provide protection for their families. 23 The overview of cooperative development in the United States provided here supports the idea that cooperatives in the United States are both an artifact of early settlers’ European heritage and a collective response to harsh living conditions in rural areas. ? Americ an farmers first attempted to organize in 1785 with the establishment of the Philadelphia Society for Promotion of Agriculture. The first formal farmer cooperatives were created in 1810: a dairy cooperative in Goshen, Connecticut, and a cheese manufacturing cooperative in South Trenton, New Jersey. On the heels of these organizations, other cooperatives involving different commodities were formed in many parts of the country (table 3. 1). There was no identified coordinated leadership and most cooperatives restricted their operations to their local community. Most of he early agricultural cooperatives were ultimately unsuccessful. THE 21ST CENTURY 15 Table 3. 1. Selected early cooperatives and mutuals in the United States Year Cooperative 1752 Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 1810 Dairy cooperative (Goshen, Conneticut) and cheese cooperative (South Trenton, New Jersey) 1820 Hog marketing, slaughtering, and packi ng cooperative (Granville, Ohio) 1853 Irrigation cooperative (Tulare County, California) 1857 Grain elevator (Madison, Wisconsin) 1862 Tobacco marketing cooperative (Connecticut) 1863

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World Essay

Ethics and corporate responsibility in the workplace and the world is becoming a center of attention. There are many things going on in the workplace that different agencies and people are looking into while placing the blame on the appropriate source. In this paper, a scenario is presented. The scenario involved PharmaCARE and its subsidiary, CompCARE are reviewed and certain questions are being asked for clarity. The paper will look at the stakeholders in this scenario. The paper will do it best to analyze the ethics of PharmaCARE’s treatment of the Colberia’s indigenous population and its rank-and –file workers versus that of its executives. In additionally, the paper will look at the situation concerning three workers, Donna, Tom, and Ayesha under the supervision of Allen. The study of how whistleblowing, opportunities, and protection could help Allen stop the unethical of CompCare. An assessment of PharmaCARE’s environmental creativity with the Colberian activities. The paper will address the original purpose of and changes to Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The paper will now look at the shareholders in this scenario. The shareholders are major players in an organization or corporation. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a â€Å"shareholder as one that holds or owns a share in a company† (Shareholder, 2013). A synonym of a shareholder is stakeholder and this is someone who has interest in the company. Therefore, the shareholders of this scenario are Allen, Donna, Ayesha, Tom, CompCARE, PharmaCARE, WellCo, and the Colberians. Allen, Donna, Ayesha, and Tom are employees of CompCARE. They are stakeholders in this scenario because they work for CompCARE and this is how they make their living. They want the company to be successful, but at what cost will it cost them. The Colberians are the people who labor to make the drug, while getting paid $1.00 a day and living in poverty. PharmaCARE is the mother company of CompCARE and its goal is to profit off of CompCARE by any means necessary. WellCo brought the  CompCARE from PharmaCARE seeing the profit it could make in this deal. Each shareholder plays a significant part in making sure the CompCARE is successful. The paper will now look analyze the ethics of PharmaCARE treatment of the Colberians. PharmaCARE has a company in African and found people there willing to share information about local remedies and could supply workers willing to work for $1.00 a day. PharmaCARE probably look at this as a coal mine and struck the deal. This process is unethical in every way. One reason it is unethical, the employees at PharmaCARE is not working for a $1.00 a day wage nor are they living in primitive huts. The employees of PharmaCARE have electricity and running water while the Colberians do not get to enjoy this luxury. The World Trade Organization, WTO established guidelines concerning labor rights and standards. â€Å"Moreover, precisely because third world workers are terribly exploited, their employees will pass on much of the cost of improvements in labor standards achieved through international trade treaties to their employees in the form of lower wages† (Global Issues, 2013). PharmaCARE knew the way it was treating the Colberians was not ethical; the company could not behave in this fashion in the United States. PharmaCARE teamed with some toxic leaders in fatting its profit margin. The welfare of the Colberians did not concern them in any way. Hellriegel and Slocum noted a concern for a global team. The global team would have benefited PharmaCARE tremendously. â€Å"The global team helps to define common features of goods and services that will appeal to customers in different countries. The global team members from different countries can provide insight into an input about these unique market needs and requirements for specific attributes of goods and services† (Hellrigel & Slocum, 2011, p.360). A company wants to be correct in dealing with foreigners because if anything is done wrong eventually the world will find out. In this scenario, the executives profit, while the workers receive scraps. The paper will now turn it focus on the workers insi de CompCARE and could termination be consider legal in this scenario. The workers are Allen, Ayesha, Donna, and Tom. Allen is the manager and was responsibility to make sure his staff was not in any health nor safety  threat. In the case with Ayesha, she wanted to be promoted and nothing happen. She filed a complaint with the EEOC. â€Å"The EEOC was created to increase job opportunities for women and minorities and to help end discrimination based on race, color, religion, disability, gender, or national origin in any personnel action† (Boone & Kurtz, 2012, p. 61). Allen could have avoided this by putting Ayesha on a supervisor track. Allen could have been a role model for Ayesha, while showing her the responsibility of a supervisor. Allen should have talked to Ayesha and giving her pointers on what she needed to do to be considered for a supervisor job. In the case of Donna, she never was one to stay out of work. She had a perfect attendance until the discovery of mold was found. She became ill because nothing was done to rectify the mold problem. Therefore, Allen do not have a just cause to fire Donna knowing the reason of her illness. She continued to work until she could no longer and filed for worker compensation. â€Å"Any employee, irrespective of their length of service, who is dismissed or subjected to a detriment for certain health and safety reasons, would have a potential claim against their employer† (Calcott, 2011, p.12). In the case of Tom, he wanted something done about the mold problem. Tom was a supervisor at CompCARE and he reported to Allen. Tom noticed how all the workers were getting sick and took action. He informed Allen about the sir quality in the lab. Tom did the right thing in reporting all problems to his superior. The assumed Tom waited and went to Allen again to do something about the air quality. The problem gotten worsen and Tom threatened to turn the company in to OSHA. Tom would be consider a whistleblower. â€Å"A whistleblower exposes the misdeeds of others in organizations† (Schermerhorn, 2010, p.100). The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 prohibits an employee from getting fired for telling on unethical conduct. The paper will now look at how Allen could have benefit by supporting his employees and himself. Allen knew something was not right and yet he did nothing when the problem was not fix. â€Å"Employers are well aware of their extensive responsibilities to employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974† (Calcott, 2011, p.12). In the role Allen have, he was obligated and held the responsibility to protect his staff. Allen reported to his boss as to what was going on, therefore he should took the next steps in finding help for his employees. Allen could have benefited himself by having a clear conscious he did what was right.  He would have been free from any prosecution the employees would have filed on the company. He would have been protected under the Whistleblower Act as well. Allen’s health was just as much danger as his staff and this should have been enough to make him tell authority. PharmaCARE’s renders a purported environmental stewardship is worst and the company’s public stance should carry an obligation to be a leader in environmental matters. PharmaCARE should be more concern about Colberians’ environment. PharmaCARE should want to help the people who is producing their product. They could help with building homes for the Colberians, by knowing their conditions. The executives live in nice places with running water and electricity. PharmaCARE can set up a fund in order to educate the people of Colberia. Teaching and showing people how to be more efficient will help PharmaCARE profit more. The people will be loyal to the company helping them. PharmaCARE can help the Colberians to be more productivity in everyday life. When a company goes in a foreign country to do business it should make sure of the country’s policy. Companies move their business to foreign countries are still liable if something happen. The company should be willing to help build the area up the workers live in. Building roadways to carry PharmaCARE’s drugs is a significant matter. The WTO is cutting down on companies that are no treating foreigners’ right. This is in health and safety as well as in the United States. The WTO is an advocate for under privilege countries. It protects the right of the workers in poverty countries. There seem to be a big issue regarding children workers but this does not seem the case. However, WTO will not allow any injustice to come to workers in third world countries. â€Å"The WTO’s agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health. However, these measures must be applied in the same way to both national and foreign businesses. In other words, members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies† (WTO, 2013). The author believes now things are getting better because companies know someone is watching them. The next concern to look at concerning this scenario is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) à ¢â‚¬Å"is a liability scheme rather than a monitoring program† ( Halbert & Ingulli,  2012, p.207). According to the Environmental Protection Agency â€Å"the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) commonly known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress on December 11, 1980† (CERCLA, 2013). The CERCLA’s function were to assist others when a hazardous substances might endanger others or the environment. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act provided accountability of persons accountable for discharges of hazardous waste. It also established a trust fund to make available for cleanup when no guilty party could be acknowledged. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act do not support the PharmaCARE scenario. The PharmaCARE is a pharmaceutical company and CERCLA’s target is chemical and petroleum industries. CERCLA will assist when the responsibility people cannot be located. In this scenario the responsible party is known and could have done something about the matter before it got out of hand. The cleanup should fall on PharmaCARE and not CERCLA. There were signs and people to tell the story of what happen and how nothing was done to cease the problem. There were no transporters bringing the mold into the company. The mold grew and causing the air quality to be tamper with. PharmaCare is fully blame for this and should pay for the cleanup and compensate the workers on their health issues. PharmaCARE was bogus and should be made to buy back CompCARE from WellCo. WellCo is an innocent party while things were being withheld from the company. References Boone, G., & Kurtz, D. (2012). Contemporary Business (14th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Calcott, J. (2011). Don’t stumble over safety. Works Management, 64(8), 12 CERCLA. (2013). Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/cercla.html EEOC. Retrieved July 26, 2013from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/internal/eeo_policy_statement.cfm Global Issues. (2013). Retrieved August 16, 2013, from http://www.globalissues.org Halbert, T., & Ingulli, E. (2012). Law & ethic in business environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning Shareholder. (2013). Retrieved August 16, 2013, from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary Hellriegel, D., & Slocum, J., W. (2011). Organization Behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning WTO. (2013). Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.wto.org

Exercise 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Exercise 1 - Essay Example Sexual abuse on the other hand is enticing a child to undertake in any sexual activities with or without consent. The awareness of the child is irrelevant in this case. Failure to provide a child’s needs amounts to neglect. The program’s mission will be protecting children from neglect and abuse to ensure they grow in a healthy environment and proper mental, social, psychological, and emotional development. The primary goals include educating the society on the various forms of child abuse and helping those affected by offering support financially, emotionally and health programs for the sexually abused (Watkins,2009). The effectiveness of the program is measurable in the following ways; data can be obtained from the related agencies and compared to cases reported after awareness is done. A reduction of the number of reported cases shows success. Conducting a benchmarking activity by comparing our work and that done by other child protection programs. The number of children who successfully undertake the program will also be an indication of the success of the program. Activities aimed at achieving the objectives include conducting fun days where families are mobilized and educated on child abuse. Blogs and social networks will ensure that a larger population gets the intended message and are continuously updated on any new events. A toll free centre will be accessible for 24 hours to respond to any emergencies and receive

Advertising Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advertising Research - Essay Example The different academic disciplines help in understanding these differences among the consumers. In this paper, three academic disciplines and their role in advertising research would be discussed. Psychology, perhaps, has the greatest role to play in Advertising research. The main purpose of advertising is to attract the customer and increase awareness of the brand through advertisement. In order to attract the customer, advertisers needs to understand the minds of the consumer. Consumers, nowadays, have placed a barrier around themselves and they have a cynic attitude towards advertising (Nyilasy and Reid, 2009). However, this has not changed anything. Advertisers still use advertising to reach and the customer. Many of the ads that consumers are exposed to make no impact on the product sales but sometimes an ad connects with the consumers and product sales increase directly as a result of the advertisement. An advertising connects with the consumer when it understands the consumer. Thus, understanding the consumer is vital. Psychology helps in understanding the consumer and it plays the role of effectively targeting the right consumer. Often research on a certain topic helps understand the consumer better and this then helps in improving advertising in the future. For instance, an apparel store can conduct a research on the impact on sales after using celebrity branding. This would help the advertisers to understand whether celebrity branding does impact the sales of the product. If it does, the store can use celebrity branding often to improve their sales. Thus psychology helps in advertising research by answering the simple question: Why do consumers behave the way they do? This is then used to make advertising more effective (Reijmersdal, Neijens, and Smit, 2009). Sociology is the study of human behavior within the society. Humans like to consider themselves as part of a group or a community and in order to understand a person, it is important to

Human Physiology and Anatomy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Physiology and Anatomy - Essay Example As the paper declares excretion of waste products from the body is the most important function of the kidney within the body. Urea is the main product that gets excreted in the process. Also, the kidney has the responsibility to regulate water in the body as well as balance the acid base and electrolytes levels within the body. These are some of the common functions that kidney has been known to perform since years. However in the recent years, studies have obtained that kidney has an endocrinal responsibility as well. This is so because the kidney helps in secretion of a variety of materials like renin and erythropoietin into the stream of blood, leading to several effects external to the kidney as well. From this study it is clear that the role of the kidneys involves processing blood such that waste products and excess water can be removed from the body. This function takes place everyday within the body of human beings. The waste materials are eliminated in the form of urine as a result of this process. The significance of this function of the kidneys lies in the fact that if the kidneys did not allow the elimination of the waste products, then these products would accumulate in the blood leading to damage to the human body as a whole. In terms of function, renal function and kidney function are the same. A person having both kidneys active enables the functions of the kidney effective. Several nephrons are present in each kidney that allows intertwining of small blood vessels and tubes that collect the urine.

Health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health care - Essay Example The fifth section concentrates on the target market, whereby the paper provides an insight on the strategies that can are used to serve the market, and the sixth section identifies resources needed to move forward in the entrepreneurial process. The seventh section covers a brief summary of the financial projections for the period end 30 June 2012, whereby the summary is benchmarked through data gathered from research of similar types of publicly traded companies. The eighth section elaborates on the forces that determine the profitability of the industry, and the paper concludes with the challenges that are faced by the business as it grows. Â   Funding Pitch portions of the Health Care Entrepreneurial Business Plan: Tele-hospice counseling service 1. The entrepreneurial opportunity Various changes in the society have contributed significantly to a creation of entrepreneurial opportunities by providing a strong concentration to the sector of services concerning new and fast growing business environment for adaptation of the entrepreneurs to dynamism in the society (Lindmark, 2012). The increased understanding of entrepreneurship process due to the research and the set of individuals, who have discovered, evaluated and exploited the opportunities. Therefore, fostering a reliable understanding of the changes in different levels of society has led to creation of opportunities and the way entrepreneurs can adapt and exploit these opportunities after an analysis, which is altered at an aggregate level. 2. The business, product or program planned Hospice refers to a twenty-four hour program, which is planned by hospice interdisciplinary team, in order to allow the terminally ill clients to make a decision related to physical, pastoral or spiritual and psychological comfort, instead of cure. These patients are hospitalized of they are indicating acute symptoms, and hospice care is initiated by the decision of the client, family or physician. However, there is a requ irement of a certification by the client in order to receive the services offered by hospice, which offered from either temporary or permanent place of residence. In this case, the Hospice service program is terminated by the client or family decision, death or discharge by the hospice agency, and bereavement care is offered to the family members (Whitten, Doolittle & Hellmich, 2001). The products of offered by this business are emotional and spiritual comfort that is related to the death of hospice client. The other product offered by hospice program is counseling services and support to the members of the patients’ family. They also focus on non-interventional care of patients succumbing to their terminal illness at their homes. Furthermore, the members of the family are made integral participants of the program, whereby the day care is offered by stepping a caregiver duty, which is considered foreign. 3. The management team The management team comprises of the Mike Friedel , Chief Executive Officer, who is charged with the responsibility of leading the team by making informed decisions on substantial issues in the organization. The other member of the management team is John Budnick, who is CFO with the responsibility of managing the organization’s financial resources and Ray Terrill, who is a sales and marketing manager with a significant role of formulating the strategies of targeting customers and

Dispute Settlement DB-3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dispute Settlement DB-3 - Research Paper Example One of the major markets of GM is China with 2.3 million vehicles sold in 2010, a 29 percent increase from 2009. GM attributes this increase in sales to the economic stimulus incentives in place in China. According to David Chen, the Vice President for GM, China Group, the government encourages local production of vehicles in China without considering whether the manufacturer is a domestic or foreign company (China Business Review, 2011). Furthermore in 2010, the government issued a policy that it will give an incentive of $460 rebates on the purchase of fuel efficient cars. This policy serves GM well because 26 vehicles manufactured by GM in China qualify for the rebate. Another international policy in China that proves beneficial to GM is that the government allows the use of lesser grade steel (Muller, 2010). This can be translated to a lower cost in manufacturing a car for China. International policies such as the above cited have positive impacts on the sales of GM; thus, the China market is a major market for GM. Even as early as 1997, GM already foresaw that China will be a big market for them; therefore, they invested in a joint venture with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) to establish their first technical center joint venture in China (China Business Review, 2011). Investments such as these have proven to be worthwhile for GM. GM is very optimistic with their China market and has intentions of increasing further their investment in the country because of the supportive policies of the government. In view of this, GM projects that in 15 to 20 years from now their sales could reach to a whooping 20 million cars. Another market of GM is India. Although GM entered the Indian market 16 years ago, it is now moving towards intensifying its market by focusing on dealerships and service network expansion (The Indian Express, 2012). In India, GM focuses on the small car market because of the

Deaf reading reaction number 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Deaf reading reaction number 2 - Coursework Example Ideas such as this stand out to me and are in line with my beliefs no bias should exist in the provision of education. My knowledge in this area reveals that the most urgent need of the deaf children is the urge for communication. However, these are always hampered if the child does not receive ample guidance and understanding from the teachers and fellow children. This fact is as well brought out in the article. Therefore, any setting which fails to meet the communication and related needs of a deaf child should be avoided. I’ve also understood better that it is the responsibility of everyone to enhance this success in the education of our deaf children. There should be a shared responsibility between the state and the community in which the child lives to help them acquire education. All of us must be accountable for the educational achievement and inclusion of all deaf children into the education system for their benefit (Cerney

International Risk Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Risk - Term Paper Example Introduction Main Street Capital Corporation (MSCC) was founded on 9, March 2007 with a diverse purpose agenda. The firm assists the business corporations and companies by providing the long-term debts to the middle market and the lower class middle market (LMM) companies. It also helps the middle markets by providing them with the equity capital and tends to commence its partnership with entrepreneurs, management organizations and reputed business companies and it normally grants the financing alternatives within its lower-middle-market profile (MSCC, n.p.) Such classes of companies normally generate $10-$150 million per annum and the long term debt investments are made for the companies greater than the lower-middle-market companies with respect to their business capital multitude. It seeks to bridge financial hole and the gap between LMM businesses and the investment and revenue generations. With the expanse of the MSCC, the company has debt and invested in almost 59 LMM companies till the Fall, 2012. At the end of the year 2012, the Middle Market scenario of the investments had risen up to 85 companies in total. The basic business strategies are categorized as follows 1. Delivery of the customized solution of financial problems in the LMM market. 2. Focusing and assisting the newly established companies. 3. Invest to help multiple companies, Business firms, industries, Regional and capital markets by strictly following a pre-defined investment criteria. 4. Leveraging on strong finance sourcing groups. 5. Lower rates of debts as compared to other debt companies and banks and providing benefit from long term, fixed capital and lower capital financing. (MSCC, n.p.) Owing to the expanse in the business and the investments, financial decisions, debt planning and managing the total expenditure per annum is ofcourse a very risky job and it renders the streamline of the company vulnerable to loss exposure and other risky situations. Following are the risk factors w hich could be predicted stochastically on the basis of the firm’s performance and subject to the economic and investment constraints, business structure and the competition with other business investment funds. The sinusoidal behavior of the economic conditions of US could be catastrophic to the performance of the firm. This rise and all in the country’s economy renders the operation of the company very risky and will obviously down trod the portfolio of the firm. Managing and deploying the capital with proficiency Competitions with other firms Referral conditions, relationships, and the maintenance of such relationships by managing and pacifying all the cliches and the rifts between client and our firm. It could be risky Rules and regulations governing the working of the firm and adversely affecting the way in which the firm rise its capital. Money borrowing business. So the potential for the gain or loss is amplified and so is the risk of investment on the company Su bjugated to the SBA authority regulations because of the licensing issues. Insurance rules in Germany Germans believe in the quotation â€Å"Better safe than sorry†. Germany is the forefront of technology trade and hence it is also a scientific hub. Because

THE ROLE OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION STRATEGY IN SUPPORTING EMPLOYEE Essay - 4

THE ROLE OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION STRATEGY IN SUPPORTING EMPLOYEE RETENTION WITHIN A COMPLEX INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MARKET - Essay Example The paradox in this situation is that these foreign assignments are highly compensated with hefty perks. Despite some meticulous recruitment procedures, employees still cut short the international tour of duty hence putting to question the nature of the recruitment procedures that are unable to siphon out the restless candidates. Heneman and Judge (2003) describe recruitment as the, â€Å"the process of acquiring, deploying, and retaining a workforce of sufficient quantity and quality to create positive impacts on the organization’s effectiveness† (p. 4). In view of the precarious nature of the international recruitment assignments, most firms out to hire new employees have resorted to demanding a more meticulous selection procedure to eliminate those candidates deemed incapable of surviving the strain and demand of the foreign locations. In this endeavour, the major categories used to garner the correct candidate include the individual’s flexibility; this necessitate the potential employee indicate willingness to endure the expected environmental and social changes in the locale assigned to (Workman, 2008). This criterion has been found to the principal factor other than the usual professional acumen that employers expect from the potential candidates. A hardy employee must demonstrate his willingness to adapt to adverse climatic changes, foreign lingua franca, religious beliefs, changes in social activities, or conflicting nutritional practices. Firms operating in the Middle East, Africa, or the North Sea usually require pot ential employees to express their capability to deal with the anticipated hash conditions required to work in the regions. These include withstanding extremely cruel weather, religious intolerance, no social activities among other adverse conditions which are not suited for the faint-hearted. Employers therefore decisively

Eriksons Theory Essay Example for Free

Eriksons Theory Essay When discussing the development theory, Erikson had been the frontier with many major contributions. Unlike Freud and Piaget, Erikson’s theory of development focused much more on social interactions. While most of us agreed that children do become toilet-trained between ages one and three, Erikson’s theory also went further to acknowledge that children also learn to talk, walk, feed themselves, etc. In order to understand Erikson’s theory of development, we need to focus on three main principles: dynamic balance of opposites, vital involvement and life in time. Dynamic balance of opposites: There are two opposing tendencies in dynamic balance of opposites: dystonic (negative) and syntonic (positive). Erikson believed there were eight stages, and at each one, the individual resolved a crisis between the positive (syntonic) and negative (dystonic) tendencies (Erikson Kivnick 1986). A resolution of crisis does not mean that a person rejects either syntonic or dystonic completely, but rather that a person should find a balance between two of those tendencies. For instance, our American culture has frequently taught parents to never say â€Å"no† to their children because that could potentially damage a child’s self-esteem. However, Erikson would disagree and say that children do need to hear â€Å"no† sometimes to understand that the whole world does not revolve around them. Erikson would also say that telling the child â€Å"no† all of the time is bad as well. Vital involvement depends on the balance of syntonic and dystonic tendencies. Vital Involvement: Erikson developed eight stages of development. First, the trust versus mistrust stage, where infants start to learn that either the world is good and can be trusted, or is bad and can’t be trusted (Erikson et.al 1986). For instance, Erikson would state that babies learn to trust their caregivers for not letting them go hungry, but babies also learn to mistrust their caregivers for yelling at them and not feeding them consistently. Second, the autonomy versus shame and doubt stage where children learn about their own â€Å"selves† which is separate from their caregivers (Erikson et.al 1986). In this stage, children usually develop their own will and desires and apply  them well by saying â€Å"no†. When children start to feel comfortable using â€Å"no† as a way to reach their desires, they have reached the initiative versus guilt stage. In this stage, children learn to internalize values from the elder and also acquire the sense of guilt for wrongdoing. The next stage is industry versus inferiority where children explore the greater world in elementary school and their surroundings. Erikson did pay a lot of attention in the identity versus confusion stage because it focuses on adolescents and their identity crisis. Fidelity is the heart of identity because adolescents share some of their parent’s values, as well as develop their own. The last three stages include intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity versus despair. Each of these stages focuses greatly on the continuity of human development until death. Erikson recognized that there are certain time periods when it might be easier for some to develop and harder for others to develop, depending on the environment that influence them. For instance, some children who faced hardships (family separation, family violence, etc.) might have trouble in certain stages or even all of the stages, depending on where the factors start. Life in time: Erikson referred to his theory of development as epigenesis. Epigenesis is relevant to evolution (the past and the future) and genetics. Erikson explained, â€Å"†¦epi can mean ‘above’ in space as well as ‘before’ in time, and connected with genesis can well represent the space-time nature of all development† (Erikson et.al 1986). Erikson did not refer epigenetic to individual genetic make-up and how it influences individual development. Rather, Erikson was concerned with how personality and behavior is influenced after birth and so on. For instance, my mother has had a hard time adjusting with American culture when we first migrated here from Vietnam. My sister and I started to adapt to the new culture right away—from clothing style, hairstyle, hobbies, etc. in which my mother had a very difficult time to accept. She wanted us to keep our traditional customs at home, as well as outside our home. At first, we felt reluctant because we felt she did not understand the importance of â€Å"fitting-in† at school. However, as we started college, my sister and I started to realize that our culture and traditions are unique and understand where my mother was coming from (Identity/ confusion stage). Conclusion: Erikson had dedicated his life by contributing to developmental psychology in major ways. Erikson’s theory of development is still widely used and studied by many scholars.

British Standards of Sustainability

British Standards of Sustainability Abstract The following report is based on the use of British Standards to look at the impact it has on a product development process from the beginning of its lifecycle to the end when it decomposes. With the world today at the state it is, the pollution and the resources are being used up at an un-regenerate able rate. It is more important than ever to recycle and perform our manufacturing processes in an environmentally sustainable manner. Hence, the modern environmental legislations have been designed and applied in manners as such to focus on not only manufacturing process but also the end of life cycle and the recycling and upcycle options. BS8887- 1:2006 (MADE) looks at design from Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End of life, the key aspects this legislation will cover and target are at remanufacture, recycling and efficient and sustainable ways to proceed to the end of life of the product. The main aim of legislations as such is to become more environmentally friendly and to cre ate a more sustainable environment for the generation of tomorrow. However, there are many such legislations that every manufacturer in the region has to follow which covers areas not covered by the particular legislation mentioned above. There are many various other legislations and regulations which ensure that the rules and regulations are followed strictly and the quality of the production is maintained at an optimum with respect to production and environment. Contents Abstract ..1 Glossary: 3 Introduction: 4 Research Methodology: .4 Principle of MADE: 4 Product Design Assessment: 5 Manufacture of Design: (MADE): .. 5 Assembly (MADE): 6 Disassembly (MADE): .. 6 End of Life Processing (MADE): .. 7 Benefits of MADE: . 7 Design for the Environment (DFE): ..9 BS887 1:.. 9 BS8900: .. 9 ISO 14001: . 9 ISO 14025: .. 10 Designing a product for the environment and how it is contributing to the sustainability: .10 4 Methods to assess a product for their impacts on the environment: .12 Reference and Bibliography ..13 Glossary: PDS- Product Design specification MADE- Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End of life BS- British Standard PDA- Product Design Assessment DFE: Design for Environment FEA: Finite element analysis EIA: Environmental impact assessment LCA: Life cycle assessment MET: Material energy toxicity matrix EEA: Environmental performance indicator WEEE: Waste electronic and electrical equipment Introduction: The report shows how the idea of sustainability is implemented through various steps of production and manufacture with the help of the guidelines put into place by the British Standards. The main purpose behind these legislation and guidelines is to make the companies and the manufacturers aware of the harmful impacts of the manufacturing process as well as the effect of bad material selection during production and end of life cycle. The use of strict guidelines and fines to put these legislations and rules in place helps by maintaining the sustainability process of our environment as well as by funding the awareness programs and the research on new concepts and technology regarding sustainable environment. This report shows the impact of different legislations on the manufacturing process of the industrial fans and the different steps taken to make sure the process is environmentally friendly and supports the sustainability of the environment even during disassembly and end of life cycle. Another form of legislation which provides guidance for the company to perform their operation in a sustainable manner with respect to environment is ISO 14001, ISO 14001 however focuses more on efficient utilisation of water and energy usage with minimum wastage. Together these legislations and laws promotes the idea of sustainable environment and aids for its further research on sustainability and new technology to make the manufacturing process more efficient and environmentally conservative. Research Methodology: To gather the information and data required for the report two major types of sources were used: Research on the internet and through the British standard articles and awareness packets. The manufacturing process of the product is analysed and reviewed under the legislations and rules BS887 and MADE to find out the changes the law has made on the manufacturing process to adapt the process and make it more eco-friendly and sustainable. The legislations and sources for the research are mentioned in the bibliography and on appropriate sections. The company has also done various eco-friendly tests and published articles on its results which can and have been sourced and used as a part of research for the report. Principle of MADE: MADE: Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End of life. The principle objective of the MADE standard is to make sure the product is able to be either decomposed in an eco-friendly manner or recycled after the end of its life cycle to make sure the environment is not affected by the product. The use of MADE ensures the correct materials are selected for manufacture and the idea of eco-friendly and sustainable environment is kept in mind when choosing the material for the product with respect to the impact the use of the material will have on the environment during the its life cycle and after the end of the life cycle. As of today the materials chosen in the product we see are still not very focused on making the environment clean and conservative for the future, more than half of the product we use today are still dumped in landfills after the end of its life cycle which is harming and degrading the environment. Hence the main purpose of the MADE standard is to make the companys an d the manufacturers aware of the needs of our environment and to make sure appropriate materials are chosen for the products which can be either recycled or de-composed in a conservative manner after end of its life cycle. Product Design Assessment: The product being chosen to perform the analysis on is a normal house hold blender. The theory of MADE principles is going to be used for the analysis and to find out the effects a normal house blender has on our environment. The analysis helps us find solutions and improvements for the product to be better suited for the environment and to help maintain the sustainability of environment. The image above shows example of a common house hold blender. Manufacture of Design: (MADE): The manufacturing process of the blender consist of multiple pieces being moulded and shaped and then joined together to make the blender functional and operational. The materials in use for the manufacturing of the blender are also of various combination. However, the blender is shaped in a very simple shape which makes it fairly easier to manufacture the common house hold blender. The plastic jar of the blender is composed of a material called PP (Polypropylene Plastic) shaped and moulded through a process called injection moulding process. The moulding process is performed by heating up the material to its melting point and injecting it to a cooled die where it is cooled down and moulded to its shape. The process is a very cheap method of manufacturing which also requires very low level of energy usage. The blade of the blender on the other hand is stainless steel shaped into small sharp blade like structure which cut and blend the fruits/vegetables/ spices inserted into the jar of the blender. It is essential that the blade is made of stainless steel which has no chances of forming rust in the environment where it operates since food that we eat is being blended in the machine and hence could cause potentially illness for the user. To make sure the steel being used is stainless there should be at least 10.5% chromium in the steel, the presence of the protective iron chromium oxide allows the steel to avoid corrosions and rust. In order for the blender to be considered safe for daily house hold purposes and for it to pass the British safety standard it is vital that the blade for the blenders are of stainless steel. The manufacturing method used to produce the blades for the blenders is the Spinning method. The method is performed by using machinery which is mounted on a forming block against the stainless steel which is pressed on a forming block to rotate. The process in itself is not really expensive or energy consuming but it will be more economical and financially benefitting to produce at bulk with big batches. The graph above shows how the price is affected with the batch size and shows how ordering at bulk with big numbers is more economical. Assembly (MADE): The design of the blender is pretty simple for assembly which requires very little time and knowledge to assemble and use. After the assembly of the blade in the jar all the parts are easily accessible and well fitted to make sure the blender is accessible and easy to use able to be cleaned fitted and opened making it easier to use and clean for household use. The design and the mechanism of the parts are very simple making the parts easy to access worldwide in case it needs repair or fixing. The source of the materials are all minimalistic and easy to access making it easier to be sourced locally making it easier and cheaper to manufacture. The cardboard of the packaging is also recyclable and eco-friendly making it more sustainable friendly for the environment. Disassembly (MADE): The blender consists of various different parts, which are easily constructed and assembled. The use of simple parts makes it easy to operate and assemble the blender along its life cycle. Not only that the use of simple and easy parts makes it easy to disassemble as well helps in the end of life cycle for recycle or upcycle. The use of basic and fairly simple materials for manufacturing and assembly makes it easy to disassemble and end the life cycle in a conservative manner. End of Life Processing (MADE): Due to the presence of heavy carbon emissions and the state that our environment is in it is essential that all the manufacturers have a plan for the end of life cycle to deal with the product in an eco-friendly and conservative manner. The company and the manufacturers need to have a plan for the management of the product even after the items have been sold and passed on to the customers. It is essential for the product to be able to keep up with the customer demand and meet the standards that have been placed for the products hence the End of the life processing is one of the most important steps as well. Preserving our environment and keeping it alive for the future is one of the main issues and things we deal with today in our daily life and it is essential that we respect it in order to maintain the balance in our food chain and the environment. The use of stainless steel hence makes perfect sense as it is theoretically 100 % recyclable. Another key features which promotes the use of stainless steel is that it is very durable and has a long life of several decades. However, if the product has reached its end of lifecycle or has damages in it then it can easily be replaced and separated from its housing and framework. As stainless steel has no damaging effect when in contact with soil or water it can be easily re-moulded in different kinds of moulds to reuse and recycle. Polypropylene (PP) is another material not only being used in the manufacturing of the blender but also one of the most recycled and reused material around us today. With nearly everything around us being made of some kind of plastic it is essential we recycle these materials in order to help keep our environment clean and pollution free. All the different kinds of plastic being used in production today are numbered 1-7 depending on the type of plastic and their properties. However, the body of the blender is made up of quite tough PP, which will require a special technique to recycle called the quaternary recycling process. To perform the process on such plastics which are being recycled it is incinerated at temperature of up to 900 to 1000 Degree Celsius. The use of the method can cut the waste plastic by around 80% and completely prevent pollutant escaping to the atmosphere as well. Common examples of recycled PP can be Battery Cables, Brushes, Bins, signal lights, etc. Hence the recycling and re use of every kind of plastic including the PP helps to keep our environment clean and make a more of a sustainable approach. Benefits of MADE: The use of the MADE theory of analysis help us to find out of the flaws present in the blender. Comparing the usage process to the manufacturing and the designing process there is lots of usage during the manufacturing phase comparatively to the very little usage of energy during the operational life of the blender. The graph above shows how it requires an excessive amount of energy during its production phase but very little during its operational and usage life cycle. By finding a more energy efficient method for production and design of the blender the company could be improving in its earning and the profit margin achieved through each sale. As mentioned above in the report the use of the recycling and upcycling process on the materials can be very helpful and cost effective when either purchasing or producing the blender. The use of recycling and eco-friendly components also help to create a good image with the customers and gain their trust. Also using less dense materials, recycle and remade parts for production may help to make a more sustainable and eco-friendly approach. Design for the Environment (DFE): Design for Environment (DFE) can be defined as process of designing to minimize the environmental impacts and ensuring products are sustainable and eco-friendly throughout the products life cycle. The main concepts and sections that are covered and assessed by the concept of DFE are: Sustainability in relation to its influence on industry Designing a product with respect to the environment and how it is contributing to the sustainability of the environment 4 Methods to assess a product for their impacts on the environment Sustainability in relation to its influence on industry: According to The Bruntland Commission, sustainability is a development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The BSIs overarching sustainability standard BS 8900 Guidance for managing sustainable development defines sustainability as an enduring, balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress. The product life cycle of the company is assessed to find out the sustainability of a company and its products. With the help of these types of assessment performed by recognised bodies like the British Standard and other companys it adds a more sustainable and eco-friendly approach to its company and its products. The achievement of approval and recognition from organisations like BS8900 can lead to approval from other organisation as such which could give them further recognition and qualification in order to achieve greater vision and solidity as well as building trust and confidence for the company and its products. Having achieved the recognition from the organisations they can also benefit from less taxation, social and green branding and a higher level of understanding on recycling and the possible different ways possible to recycle. There are also many other types of UK/EU legislation and standards that can have influence on the industries improvement towards more sustainable earth: BS887 1: The specific standard BS887 1 is different from other standards because it does not teach or give instruction to the designers on how to design or seek the manufacturing process. The standard rather provides methodology for ordering the output of the process and maximises the possibility of the most efficient ways to manufacture, assemble and solve the problem of end of life for the product. The standard also focuses on the most efficient and cost effective ways to produce the design and the products. BS8900: This standard and legislation is based on the guidance provided to manage sustainable development and to make sure sustainable practise are taking place in the industry. The standard helps the company to grow and cut out un-necessary actions taking place in the company like bribery, abuse, oppression and corruptions, enabling the company to stand on integrity. ISO 14001: ISO 14001 is an environmental management system standard which fully focuses on the environment. ISO 14001 helps to promote the effective and efficient environmental management from the company. It also controls the management of energy, consumables and waste; enabling strict energy management system. This will help the company benefit from appropriate amount of energy being used for the corresponding purposes and limiting the level of carbon emissions into the atmosphere making it a more eco-friendly and sustainable company. ISO 14025: This standard addresses the procedures for creating environmental declarations and labels. This helps to make sure there are standardised logos which represent how green and eco-friendly the company or the manufacturer is. The standardised logos indicate the level of carbon footprint in a product and can help either gain the company a good image or a bad one depending on their performance and the stickers in the packaging. Designing a product for the environment and how it is contributing to the sustainability: Designing a product for the environment (DFE) process provides huge contributions towards making a business or a product highly sustainable and environmentally friendly. The objective of DFE in simple words is to reduce or prevent various different kinds of pollutions and also highlight the risks to humans and environment. DFE aims to improve products, processes and life cycle by approaching the design of the product it is also aimed to reduce the potential impacts the environment and humans may have to face or come up against. DFE applies its principles throughout the stage of its product life cycle focusing on making the steps more environmentally friendly and loss polluting hence resulting in cleaner and sustainable products. The direct result from implementation of DFE in the products life cycle can lead to prevention of various different kinds of pollution as well as reduction on the amount of toxic/ hazardous waste and chemical in the landfills. The picture above shows an example of a product life cycle which when under DFE legislation is focused in making the steps and their results more environmentally friendly and conservative. The extraction process of the raw materials is going to be the most energy consuming and time consuming process of all. This is where various sources are either dug or mined to retrieve the natural resources for the manufacturing process hence there is going to be large amount pollution and energy usage. However, this can be countered by making use of the recycling process heavily and by designing the product to be as recyclable as possible, hence less natural resources have to be destroyed for raw materials to make the products. During the process of manufacturing the various different kinds of production methods and techniques use different levels of energy and produce different levels of waste output. With the varying level of waste and usage it is hard to maintain and control the level of wastage for the manufacturing process however if the techniques and methods of manufacturing are used at its highest efficiency level the wastage is controlled to a limit and everything is controllable and manageable to a limit. Also using less dense material and energy efficient machinery can be vital during manufacturing to control the level of pollutants produced and to conserve the environment. Also by using local sourced raw material and making use of simple designs on the product it can help by a huge margin to control the level of carbon footprints produced and pollution being caused throughout the product life cycle. Making your sources locally based allows you to control the amount of pollutants emitted during the transportation phase the shorter the journey for the transportation the less the amount of carbon footprint emitted hence it helps a great deal to be able to source locally and produce your material from raw materials around you. Also choices can be made depending on the type of transportation chosen to export / transfer your product to the market, for e.g.: Transport through sea would probably cause less pollution than if chosen to transport through air or road. The usage period of the life cycle is when the product is operational and in use by the customer or the user. This is when the actual product that has been designed and manufactured is at it life cycle in the hand of the customer. However, there are also various ways which can help to make the product more sustainable and environmentally friendly one of them being the product is designed in a manner where it can be used more than once after it life span runs out for e.g. rechargeable batteries. Recycling is the step where the finished material at the end of their life cycle has an option to either become a useless waste / a pollutant to the environment or to be reused in either the same product or any other product being manufactured by the manufacturers. However, the step of recycling as well is affected with the mixture and materials being used in the product. A product with complex mixed materials would make it harder and the process of recycling longer to making it more harmful and un-sanitary for the environment. Also a simpler plain material would make it easier as well as less energy consuming to recycle the materials compared to a complex material which would have to be separated and grouped before the recycling process is applied to it. However, there are some products which cannot be recycled and need to be buried in landfills. Unless and until the buried product fully di composes and breaks down which it take a long time to it is not a sustainable method of end of life. Therefore, especially with products which cannot be recycled and need to be buried in the ground it is essential that there is no toxic material in the product which can harm the environment and the ecosystem where they are buried. 4 Methods to assess a product for their impacts on the environment: Method Description Advantage Disadvantage 1 Environmental impact assessment (EIA) Assess the possible impacts of a product towards the environmental, social and economic effects. Clearly shows you the negative impact on environment and sustainable issues. Only partial assessment is performed. 2 Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO) Very research based analytical approach. Extremely detailed in its finding. Data received is accurate. Solutions for present and future problems can be accessed and planned. The impact the product has on the environment can be visualised before production. Very time consuming and financially not efficient enough. 3 Life cycle assessment (LCA) Assesses all the industrial system from acquiring raw materials right through to waste disposals. The environmental impact of the process can be measured at each stage of the cycle. Excellent results of environmental impact. Good comparison of results so that decision can be made to decide which method is best for the environment. Supports business strategy and research development Extremely costly. Extremely time consuming. 4 Publicly Available Specification PAS2050 Gives methodology to measure greenhouse gas emission throughout the products life cycle Benchmark to compare it with suppliers. Good image with the customer due to eco friendliness Could have a negative affect with the customers if the product isnt really eco-friendly. Reference and Bibliography http://www.bssa.org.uk/sectors.php?id=99. Last accessed 20 March 2015. Wrap org. (May 2010). Environment assessment of consumer electronic products. Available: http://www2.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Environmental_assessment_of_consumer_electronic_products.3d08bcb8.10214.pdf. Last accessed 13 March 2015. Standard Publications à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  BS8887-1 Design for Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End of Life Processing à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment Standard à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   ISO 14025 -Procedure of creating environmental declarations LFA. http://www.british-gypsum.com/about-us/sustainability/life-cycle-assessments Christina Goodrick. (March 2006). Design for waste minimisation within a food blender. Available: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Science-Progress/159026488.html. Last accessed 13 March 2015. JEM. (May 2009). Adaptable design: concepts, methods, and application. Available: http://www.sustainelectronics.illinois.edu/NSFworkshop/Reading/Adaptable%20Design%20Concepts,%20Methods,%20and%20Applications.pdf. Last accessed 20 March 2015. Azom. (28 November 2012). Polypropylene (PP) (C3H6) Plastic Recycling. Available: http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7899. Last accessed 20 March 2015. Unknown. (June 2011). Environmental aspects of stainless steel.Available: